Eddie Van Halen Checks Into Rehab

3/8/2007 7:52 PM PST BY TMZ STAFF

The long awaited Van Halen reunion tour will be even longer-awaited -- Eddie Van Halen has checked himself into alcohol-related rehab.

In a statement to TMZ, the rock legend explains why he's determined to clean up his act:

I would like Van Halen fans to know how much I truly appreciate each and every one of you. Without you there is no Van Halen.

I have always and will always feel a responsibility to give you my best. At the moment I do not feel that I can give you my best. That's why I have decided to enter a rehabilitation facility to work on myself, so that in the future I can deliver the 110% that I feel I owe you and want to give you.

Some of the issues surrounding the 2007 Van Halen tour are within my ability to change and some are not. As far as my rehab is concerned, it is within my ability to change and change for the better. I want you to know that is exactly what I'm doing, so that I may continue to give you the very best I am capable of.

I look forward to seeing you in the future better than ever and I thank you with all my heart.

Love,Ed

Eddie was scheduled to join the rest of his bandmates at the Rock and Roll induction ceremony in New York on Monday, where Van Halen will be enshrined. But unlike Lindsay and Britney, Eddie will not be leaving rehab for field trips.